Wasted Places is a collaborative investigation by six nonprofit newsrooms into federal and state programs designed to cleanup and redevelop polluted tracts known as brownfields.The project was coordinated by the Investigative News Network, and reported and written by the Connecticut Health Investigative Team, City Limits, Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and INN.

In this collaborative project, the Center and Gannett Wisconsin Media explore the question: A decade after 9/11, are we safer? With a three-part series, regional stories from Gannett’s newspapers, interactive multimedia and more.

ByJacob Kushner |November 11, 2009

They traveled 1,720 miles to work long hours on a dairy farm in western Wisconsin, among people who do not speak their language and in a place where their presence is illegal. Part 3 in our Dairyland Diversity project.

ByJacob Kushner |November 4, 2009

A growing number of Wisconsin dairy farmers are relying on immigrants to milk their cows and keep their farms running smoothly. But experts say farmers are often caught in a “don’t ask, don’t tell” web of federal employment regulations, with a strong incentive to know as little as possible about the legal status of their workers.

ByKryssy Pease |October 21, 2009

DODGEVILLE — Rapid increases in the Latino population of Wisconsin’s rural areas are reshaping work, school and social life, but also are raising concerns that Spanish-speaking immigrants are often isolated and mistrusted, experts and residents said at an event aimed at fostering better connections between newcomers and long-time residents.

Wisconsin Public Television, a partner with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, talks with Wisconsin farmers about the role of Hispanic immigrant workers in the dairy industry, as part of a new investigation launched by the Center.

Upcoming coverage: Dairy farmers have new incentives to expand. Meanwhile, national estimates indicate that half of the immigrant dairy workers — who make up 40 percent of the dairy work force — lack immigration papers. The Center is collaborating with The Country Today to cover the nexus of dairy and immigration in Wisconsin.